Welcome MN Blog Hoppers!  It’s only our second day of the blog hop, and already there has been lots of buzz and excitement.  For those of you who haven’t heard about it, click here to find out what it’s all about. 

First, let’s start with an introduction, just in case we haven’t met before.  That’s me over on the side bar to the right.  As you can see, I’m a quilt pattern and fabric designer.  I’ve been in the business for 13 years now, designing under the name of Anka’s Treasures.  To read more about me and to find out who Anka is, click here.  It will only take a minute – I’ll just wait here. 

The name of my blog is Trends and Traditions – where you will find a fresh perspective to traditional quilting.  I’m always looking for new trends in design and color combinations and striving to bring you stylish, fun and fresh patterns.  I understand that quilters are busy people, so I love to use simple tricks and techniques to make things come together easily and quickly.   To see what I’m talking about, you can click here to view the inspirations tab on my website.   It will show you all you really need to know about me.

 

As part of the Blog Hop, I am giving everyone a little taste of my style with a free pattern!  It’s called Charmed and is just a quick little project that is perfect for summer.  Here in Minnesota, we are just getting some warmer weather, so I was in the mood for something summery.

 

I love the stripe cut on the bias for the binding.  For those of you who haven’t cut a stripe on the bias, you can learn how, under the tutorials tab at the top of this page.

 

Here’s a close-up of the applique.

 

The appliques are large and simply shaped, with gentle curves that make this project easy enough for an advanced beginner.

 

To get the pattern, all you have to do is click below and print yourself a copy. 

Charmed Pattern

 

Another thing I love to bring my blog readers is color options.  I just love to make the same pattern over again in different colors!  I think it’s so interesting to see how the pattern changes, just because of the colors.  The Charmed pattern is a perfect example.  Here is it with a dramatic black background and bright, funky colors.

 

See what I mean???  The pattern goes from Charming to Sassy!

 

As part of the Blog Hop fun, we are having a little gift for our visitors today.  You just have to leave us a comment. 

Our gift to one lucky person will be a collection of our Little Charmers patterns!

         

        

 

Leaving a comment will also enter you into the drawing for the Grand Prize for the Blog Hop.  Aren’t you glad you stopped by today?